Difference between revisions of "To The Moon And Back (Karen Kingsbury book)"

Revision as of 02:01, June 30, 2018

To The Moon And Back is a future Christian novel written by Karen Kingsbury. It was released on May 29, 2018.

It is the fourth novel in her Baxter Family Collection series, and the 27th novel overall featuring the Baxter Family.

Plot

The story centers around two people, Brady Bradshaw and Jenna Davis, who lost parents in the Oklahoma City bombing. Both were five when the bombing hit: Brady was with his mother in the building (he never knew his father) and has scar tissue (both physically and emotionally) as a result, while Jenna was at home with her grandparents while both her parents were at work in the Murrah Building.

On the 12th anniversary of the bombing, Brady (who had visited the Memorial every year on the anniversary, and who was shuffled through the foster care system) meets Jenna (making her first visit, while living with her grandparents). In addition to a shared heartbreak, the two shared a deep heart connection, and (although both had Christian parents) neither believed in a God who would allow such a tragedy to take place.

In the intervening years (before the events of the book) their lives take different paths. Jenna never visited the Memorial again, but instead relocated to Columbus, Ohio as an elementary school teacher, and recovered her Christian faith (which helped her after her husband – who professed to be a Christian but was not – abandoned the marriage; Jenna promised God she would not remarry unless her spouse was also a Christian). Brady, meanwhile, continued to visit the Memorial every year, remained in Oklahoma City as a firefighter, and continued in his rejection of God. Brady left Jenna a letter every year hoping to reconnect, then went to visit the Fishers (a Christian family who lost their only son in the bombing, along with Mrs. Fisher’s sister; they witness to Brady without success).

Meanwhile, Baxter sisters Ashley and Kari planned a road trip to the Memorial. Ashley’s niece, Amy, is inspired by the story of the Survivor Tree ^[1] and wants a sapling from the Tree. They arrive too late to receive one, but Ashley sees Brady and senses that he is troubled as he leaves his letter for Jenna. Ashley reads the letter and decides to help Brady reconnect with Jenna. Though her family is not too supportive, she reaches out to Brady for information (and to ask if he could get Amy a sapling).

Eventually she locates Jenna and is ready to share the good news with Brady – only to learn that Brady was critically injured falling through the roof of a burning warehouse, yet somehow managed to miraculously survive. Ashley decides to personally tell Jenna the news – a three hour drive from her Bloomington, Indiana home – Jenna follows up and ultimately decides to spend her upcoming summer in Oklahoma City.

Brady and Jenna finally reconnect; Brady now has an incentive to recover so he can finally go on a date with her. The two fall in love, but ultimately their differing views on God – Jenna refusing to break her promise not to marry an unbeliever; Brady unable to accept a God who took their parents away – cause the two to end their relationship, though not before Jenna gives him a necklace with a key engraved “9:03” (the minute after the bombing, symbolizing that she was able to move on from the bombing, and hoping that Brady can join her there). Jenna reaches out to Ashley with the news; Ashley calls Brady but is not successful in convincing him to believe.

Brady visits the Memorial again where he meets Jag, who claims to have first met Brady when he was five and again recently. He reminds Brady of the Memorial’s motto – “come to remember, leave with resolve” – and tells him that the office has two saplings waiting for him. He walks away, and Brady looks away then back to the path – only to notice that Jag has disappeared.

But his mysterious encounter with Jag – and a subsequent visit to the Fishers – still hasn’t convinced Brady to believe. Later that week, though, Brady has a dream that he is back at the warehouse fire, trapped and calling for help. He hears his mother calling for him to come home, he cries for help, only to see Jag removing debris. He realizes that Jag is an angel, and cries to God, sorry for his unbelief.

Brady then travels to Bloomington to drop off one of the saplings for Amy (who later plants it in the back yard with her family around her) and surprises Jenna at school. He tells her that he now believes, and that the sapling would “look good in our backyard” before proposing to her.

References